Bomb storing assembly



Oct 15., 1956 l. M. LADDON ETAL BOMB STORING ASSEMBLY Original Filed Dec. 14, 1939 INVENTORS Zs'sac M. La ddon 4e! BY Theo are 1. Had

nited States 2,766,660 Patented Oct. 16, 1956 BOIWB STORING ASSEMBLY Isaac M. Laddon and Theodore P. Hal l, San Diego, ore to Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation,

San Diego, Calif a corporation of Delaware Original application December 14, 1939, Serial No. 309,13), now Patent No. 2,621,565 dated December 16, 19512. Divided and this application April 25, 1952, Serial No. 284,352

2 Claims. (CL 89-15) This invention relates to improvements in devices and structural assemblies for storing bombs and the application is a division of our application Serial Number 309,150, which was filed on December 14, 1939, and which has matured to Patent Number 2,621,565.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved assembly for holding bombs securely and safely in a minimum of space by using a frame in which there are one or more articulated spacers composed of a number of blocks shaped and arranged to form bomb pockets, the blocks being connected together by metal bands provided with hinges located between adjacent pairs of blocks.

Other objects and features become apparent in following the description of the illustrated form of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is an elevational view of the improved assembly with portions broken away.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the spacer which forms an important part of the invention.

The apparatus used to store bombs B or other objects, preferably cylindrical, in an orderly manner in an aircraft or other place includes a frame composed of four beams or upright members 12, 14, 16 and 18 which rise from a base 20, together with an upper beam 22 made of a pair of beam members 24 and 26. The upright members have sets of openings 28 therein to accommodate ate'nt Oflice the transverse stay bolts or pins 30 which pass through 1 apertures 32 in the ends of the beam 22, thereby holding the beam 22 at a selected place along the length of the upright members.

The bombs B are stored in tiers with the bombs in each tier in alternating spaced relationship to the bombs of adjacent tiers. The individual bombs are positioned by means of articulated spacer assemblies 34, each composed of blocks 25 which are made of wood or other suitable materials, shaped with a pocket 27 to fit snugly around a bomb B. The blocks 25 are connected together by means of a metal band 29 provided with hinges 31 between each pair of blocks. The metal band 29 passes along the edge of each block 25 which confronts the adjacent bomb. The shaping and arrangement of the blocks is such that a large portion of the periphery of each bomb is snugly supported and thus there is little danger of deforming or crushing, due to the weight of the bombs B above.

There are one or more spacer assemblies 34 used in a single 'frame l0,'depend-ing upon the number of tiers of bombs which are to be stored. Additionally, for each tier of bombs two assemblies 34 are used, one being con nected at one end by bolting through the apertures 40 and a selected pair of apertures 28 in the upright mem- In the operation, the bombs Bare placed in the bottom of the frame 10 manually or by mechanical means. They are arranged as a bottom tier and one spacer assembly 34 is placed upon the bombs B with the pockets 25 embracing them. This spacer assembly is fastened by bolts or pins to the upright member 16, and another spacer assembly 34 is placed upon the same bombs and fastened to the upright member 18. Then the second tier of bombs is placed in the frame 10 so that the bombs thereof nest in the upwardly opening pockets of the last mentioned spacer assemblies. This procedure is repeated until the desired number of bombs are located in the.

. or bolts 30.

Thereafter the bolts 46, there being two provided in selected threaded openings in each beam member 24 and 26, are tightened by rotating them, so as to bring the lower end plate 48 of each down upon the bombs of the top tier, thus holding the group of bombs B against movement. To remove the bombs B it is necessary only to separate the plates 48 from the'top tier and lift the bombs from the frame 10, removing the spacer assemblies when necessary. 7

It is apparent that various changes may be made without departing from the inventive concept and therefore limitation is sought'only in accordance with the scope of the claims.

We claim:

, l. A spacer, by means of which cylindrical objects may be stored compactly in tiers with the objects in one tier arranged in alternately spaced relationship to those in adjacent tiers and with each of said objects snugly engaged and supported about a major portion of its periphery, comprising a series of flexibly connected solid blocks, each block being so shaped as to fit snugly between sections of two adjacent objects irf one tier and above or below a section of one of said objects in an adjacent tier, and each of said blocks being oppositely arranged to these next adjacent, said flexible block connections including a band of flexible material common to all of said blocks and running along that face of each block which lies directly above or below one of said objects, and hinges inserted in said band at each block junction.

2. Means to rigidly confine a plurality of similarly shaped articles within a storage space, comprising upright members forming the lateral of said storage space, a plurality of spacer members adapted to form horizontal spacing means between adjacent tiers of said articles and so shaped as to prevent lateral movement of each of said articles, means for attaching fixedly each tier of articles to at least one of said upright members, a beam of suflicient length to span the distance between said upright members, means for attaching said beam to upright members in vertical adjustment so that it will extend closely and horizontally above thetopmost tier of said articles, and means attachable to and carried by said beam for exerting a downward pressure on each of the articles in said topmost tier to confine the articles into a rigid, unshifting assembly while permitting single 3 removals of said articles without breaking confinement of all of said articles, said downward pressure exerting means comprising screws penetrating said horizontal beam at spaced points, an article contact plate secured to the inside end of each of said screws, and a winged nut attached to the outer end of each of said screws whereby pressure may be applied directly to any one of the topmost tier of articles.

(References on following page) l -v 3 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 I 4 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 19, 1914 of 1913 France -Q. Aug. 16, 1915 Canada Oct. 30, 1917 Germany Dec. 11, 1946 

